Fireproof construction.



N0. 642,208. 7 Patented lan. 30, I900.

H. CONSTABLE.

FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION.

(Application filed Aug. 21, 1897.)

(No Modal.)

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IIOWARD CONSTABLE,

FFICE.

OF NEW YORIQ N. Y.

FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION.

SPIEGIFICA'I'ION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 642,208, datedJanuary 30, 1900.

Application filed August 21, 1897. Serial No. 649,015. (No model.)

To coZZ w/tcmt it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HOWARD CONSTABLE, engineer and architect, of 22 EastSixteenth street, in the city of New York, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fireproof Constructions,of which the following is a description, referring to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention particularly concerns fireproof construction for floors,roofs, and structures subjected to serve transverse strains.

Briefly stated, it consists in means for supporting the load in aneconomical manner and at the same time protecting the load-sup portingportions of the floor from fire, water, and other destructive action insuch a manner that when the protective portion of the floor has beeninjured or broken away it may be repaired in a highly-economical way andwithout affecting or requiring the renewal of any part of theload-sustaining portion of the floor. In addition to this my inventioncontemplates certain improvements in the details of the load-sustainingportion of the floor and improvements in floor construction generally,which will be fully apparent from the accompanying description andclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2, and 3 are diagrammatic planviews illustrating well-known details in floor construction. Fig. l isasection of a well-known form of floor transverse to the Lbeams. Fig. 5shows another known type of floor transverse to the I-beams. Fig. 6shows part of my invention as applied to fioors of the type somewhatsimilar to that shown in Fig. 4. Figs. 7 and 8 are sections transverseto the I-beam and parallel with the I-beam of a socalled fiat-arch floorembodying part of my invention. Figs. 9 and 10 are similar views of amodification. Fig. 11 shows another modification. Figs. 12 and 13 showmy invention as applied to floors which do not have a fiat ceiling. Fig.14: shows further modifications. Fig. 15 shows in section transverse tothe I- beam a half-span of a floor embodying in one approved form allthe features of my invention. Fig. 16 is a cross-section of the same onthe plan 17 17 of Fig. 15. Figs. 17 and 18 show details of myfitting-piece, by which floors may be fitted in place accuratelynotwithstanding variations in the distance be tween beams and in theother dimensions of the floor.

Throughout the drawings and specification likeletters of referenceindicate similar parts.

It will be convenient first to arrive at a clear meaning of the termswhich I shall make use of in explaining my invention and also tounderstand the present state of the art, which I seek to radicallyimprove.

The main supports are the walls, trusses, and girders or beams,(diagrammatically represented by the lines a b, b c, c (I, (Z 0L inFigs. 1, 2, and 3.)

Secondary supports are beams, bars, cables, arch-ribs, expanded metal,wire-mesh, and the like, transferring the weight of the floor and thesupported load to the main supports. The secondary supports are usuallyplaced at intervals, either parallel with each other, asdiagrammatically indicated by the lines in Fig. 1 org h in Fig. 2, orplaced in a variety of ways-such, for instance, as indicated at Fig. 3by the lines j l, 7.: l, and j k in Fig. 3. In some floors, especiallywhen the main supports are not too far distant from each other, thesecondary supports may be omitted entirely, in which case the mainsupports fulfil the same relation to the loadsupporting body of thefloor as do the secondary supports when such are present-that is to say,the secondary supports may be considered as subdividing the floor intosmaller areas. The term supports,therefore, when not qualified coverseither the main supports or the secondary supports when such arepresent. The load-supporting body or loadsustaining portion of the floorforms the main body of the floor and transmits its own weight and theWeight of the load either directly onto the main supports or to thesecondary supports and thence to the main supports when secondarysupports are present. This loadsupporting body in well-known formsconsists variously of lintels containing hollow spaces, metal archplates, ribs, or rods, expanded metal, wire-mesh, trusses, simpleorcombined flat arches, and a variety of combinations of tile-cement andconcrete with suspensionrods, tie-rods, and other elements. In theload'supporting body, therefore, hollows or air-spaces may exist withadvantage.

The floor-filling is material which is used mainly for the purpose offilling in hollows in the load-supporting body either for the purpose ofincreasing the fire resistance or deadening sound or increasing themassiveness of the structure where massiveness is desired. For thispurpose ashes, cinder, concrete, and a variety of other materials havebeen used, and the filling is frequently made a combined part of theload-sustaining body, serving the dual function of filling in space andadding to the strength.

The flooring is the portion either superposed or combined with theload-supporting body to form a wooden, cement, tile, or other floorsurface. This includes frequently wooden sleepers embedded in the upperportion of the load-sustaining body for the purpose of securing afinished wooden surface or for providing nailing-strips for carpets.Flange protection or I-beam protection is the means usually employed inthe form of small tiles or of other refractory material placed directlybeneath the lower flange of the I-beams or other iron-work to retard theaction of heat upon the iron-work in case of fire.

The ceiling construction, ceiling, or ceiling-finish is theunder-surfacing of the structure for appearanceplastering, either whiteor tinted or painted or papered, is usual. Ornamental tile, sheet metal,wood, and a variety of other finishes are of course familiar variations.

In the figures I have indicated the load-supporting body by the lettersZ and Z, using Z to indicate the iron members or elements of theload-supporting body. In Fig. 5 the iron member Z is an arch-plate. InFig. 12 a tension-rod orsuspension-rod is embedded in the concrete body.suspension-rod and a tension member of a compound truss or girder r, aswill be explained more in detail. In Figs. 4:, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13,and 14 tile constructions are shown, and in Figs. 5 and 12 concreteconstructions are shown. The filling is shown at m m, m indicatingconcrete or other filling, which forms also part of the load-sustainingbody,

and m filling which is not a substantial part of the load-sustainingbody, though it incidentally contributes somewhat to the strength andrigidity of the structure. The filling m, if of sufficiently goodmaterial, may also constitute to a large extent the finishedfloor-surface, no separate fiooring as such being then used. In Figs. 5and 12 I have shown a cement flooring 0, and in Fig. 15 wooden sleeperso for securing a wooden floor or other facing.

In modern fireproof construction great pains have been taken to make theload-sus-- taining body of the floor fireproof, and the In Fig. 16 theiron member Z is both a thereof. In case of damage by fire and water theload-sustaining body of the floor has to be entirely rebuilt'orextensively repaired before it can be put in proper shape. One part ofthe present invention consists in entirely divorcing the load-sustainingbody and the fire and water resisting elements in such a way that thefire and water resisting elements when damaged or when torn from thefloor by the physical and mechanical action of the powerful andsuddenly-cooling stream of water from the fireengine may be separatedfrom the load-sustaining body without the least injury to theload-sustaining body. The ordinary method of extinguishing fires bywater under a pressure of twenty-five to two hundred pounds to thesquare inch and in a stream of considerable volume issuing at greatvelocity is extremely violent, both as a mechanical force in tearingaway the lighter portions of the metal-work and the fireproof materialsand in its physical and chemical effects. The sudden chilling of themetalwork in the fioor causes warping,twistin g, and Violent strain ofthe structure, frequently requiring its complete reconstruction afterthe fire is out and in the case of extensive fires causing the entirecollapse of the load-sustaining body and frequently of the I-beams orother secondary supports. The water, moreover, meeting the heated ironexerts a powerful and exceedingly-destructive corrosive action, which isgreatly facilitated by the cracking, disintegration, and falling away ofthe lower portions of the large tiles and cement surfaces common infloors. Light-Wire netting, expanded metal, or thin plates arepractically destroyed by this action, because the scale of rust soformed is a large percentage of the thickness of light-wire rods orsheets, so that the load-supporting body, if it does not entirely fallthrough, has to be entirely replaced. By extensive inquiry concerningdamage by fire and water in the large cities in this country I havediscovered that the so-called fireproof materials, such as large bodiesof dense tile and the like, while poor conductors of heat and entirelyincombustible, are, neverthe1ess,eXceedingly-poor water-resisters. Thelarge hollow tile blocks, heretofore classed as the best form offire-resisting floor construction, are by no means best for resistingcombined fire and water, to which they are alternately subjected by theflames and the upwardly-impinging water stream. I have discovered thatsmall and solid forms of tile, preferably porous tile, will resist theaction of fire and water in a diiferent and far better manner, probablybecause less opportunity is given for the disruptive expanding andcontracting strains than in the case of large hollow tiles. The ordinaryplastering, consisting of several coats of combinations of lime, sand,hair, and plaster-of-paris, is only a moderate heat-resister and a verypoor water-resister indeed. The lime and plasterof-paris are calcined ordisintegrated and the ICC hair destroyed where it is present atcomparatively low temperature. Tests witnessed by the New York BuildingDepartment have shown that the plastering usually falls off soonafterbeing subjected to the fire and even before water is used, whichconfirms the statement that it should be considered as a ceiling-finishand not a fire and water protect-ion to the floor construction. Atemperature of 2,500 is not unusual in fires within so-called fireproofbuildings, and at a temperature as low as 1,000 iron and steel becomesoft. Brick, terra-cotta, and the like, which are manufactured attemperatures of from 2,000 upward and are called burnt materials, aretherefore, as far as I am aware, the only materials used in fireproofconstruction which resist excessive temperatures, and in thisspecification I desire to distinguish these from cements, concretes, andother materials set up in a plastic state and allowed to harden withoutburning; but these two kinds of materials compare in economy in anentirely different way, since the cements and concretes are economicaland far cheaper than the terra-cotta, brick, and burnt materials, sincethey can be fitted and used without wasteful and extensive cutting andfitting.

In my improved construction I embody a load-supporting structure inwhich no burnt materials whatever need be employed. Between thisload-sustaining structure and the ceiling and detachably secured to theloadsupporting body I introduce a layer of non corrosive and great fireand water resisting material, the said layer being secured by cement,plaster, or the like to the load-supporting body by surfaces or pointsof contact for fracture, cleavage, or divorce between itself and theload-supporting body. The surface or point of contact for fracture,cleavage, or divorce is the cement or plaster joint or other fasteningdevice by which the intermediate layer is secured to the load-supportingbody and is sustained by the load-supporting body during or after damageby fire. By this means I am able to combine in a floor a relativelycheapload-supporting body which is excellent in point of strength, but not ofthe highest fire-resisting quality, with a separate and distinct fireand water resisting body or layer of relatively-greater fire and waterresisting capacity detachably formed or detachably secured beneath theload-supporting body in such a manner that if it shrinks, warps, orcontracts it will not affect the load-sustaining portion of the floorand is capable of being entirely detached and replaced after the fire isover. I am thus enabled to combine for the first time a floor in whichthe load is supported in the most economical manner without regard tothe fire-resisting qualities, and at the same time I produce the highestprotection against the corrosive and destructive action of fire andwater and in addition to all this secure the greatest possible economyin repairing the damage which almost inevitably must result from fireand water; In its broader aspects the load-supporting body may be of anytype desired; but in the form which at present seems to be mostadvantageous cement, concrete, or other set-up material will form thelarger portion of the loadsupporting body.

In the drawings I have illustrated the ceiling at y and my fire andwater resisting portion at as. In Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 15 I have shown afinished tile ceiling. In the other figures I have shown the usualplaster ceiling. My intermediate layer must not be confounded with afinished or ornamental tile ceiling, because the latter is notinterposed in any sense between the ceiling-finish and the structure,but forms in itself the ceiling surface directly exposed to the flamesand the action of water. It will be seen that my fire-resistingdetachable layer, as shown in the figures at as and as there indicatedpreferably, though not necessarily, consisting of somewhat thick andpreferably porous tile blocks of small area, is not exposed to thedirect action of the flames until after the ceiling-finish has beendisintegrated or removed by the fire and water and that then, though insome cases the protective layer may even become partially fused, itchecks the progress of the fire and the destructive action of the fireand water and protects the floor construction proper-that is to say, theload-support ing body of the floor.

My preferred construction,\vhich embodies also certain other parts of myinvention that contribute to the formation of a more perfect floor, isshown in Figs. 15, 16, 17, and 18. In Figs. 15 and 16 theload-supportingbodyloonsists of a series of blocks 1", which may withadvantage be arched, as shown, and of the cross-section plainlyindicated in Fig. 16. These may be made of cement or other material atthe factory and transported ready to be set in place between the beamsWithout the use of centers. They may vary considerably from the typeshown in the figures, though preferably they will be formed of thestrong upper and lower portions and the lighter and preferably open-workweb. They are cut away to extend above the flange of the I-beam andpresent a lowerhorizontal bearing or surface s, which may rest on aflange-block s, fitted to the flange of the I-beam and provided with ahorizontal surface at its top for receiving the surface s. The uppersurface of the lower flange of each I-beam being almost invariablyinclined considerably and the distance between I-beams varying sometimesas much as one or two inches, it is clear that if the floor-block rrested directly upon the flanges of the I-beams the lowersurface of theblock 7' would lie either above or below its calculated level wheneverthe I-beams were closer together or farther apart, respectively, thanhad been calculated for. By means, however, of

the flange-block s, which fits the incline of the flange of the I-beamand presents a horizontal resting-face for the surface s of the block0", the

variation in the distance between I-beams does not affect the setting ofthe block r at its proper height. Furthermore, the blocks rare formedslightly shorter than the distance between the webs of neighboringI-beams, and therefore the variation in the distance between I-beamswould in some cases give too small a resting-surface for thefloor-blocksr if the flange-blocks s were not present. I compensate forthe variation in the length of the blocks 7" and in the distance betweenneighboring beams by means of a fitting-piece having detachable partsscored or grooved, so as,

to readily knock off the surplus portion and enable the fitting-piece toaccurately occupy any space which may be formed by the variation in thestructure. Preferably the fittingpiece may be separate from theflange-block s in the form of a wedge 25, scored or grooved, so that itsprojecting point after it is inserted in place between the flange-blockand the floor-block 4" may be broken ofi by the plasterers. In Fig. 17the projecting endis shown ready to be broken off at the grooves orscores, (indicated by t.) In Fig. 18it is shown broken off and theceiling-plaster y applied to finish the construction. The flange-block 8may be provided with the scored detachable portions 8, one or more ofwhich may be knocked 0E by the masons or workmen in fitting theflange-blocks s to the floor-blocks 1. Therefore the floor-block 3 formsanother fitting block or piece provided with portions detachable bymeans of the scores or grooves. While I have shown these twofitting-pieces s and t, either one may of course be used without theother and may be used in floors of radically-different construction fromthat shown in Figs. 15 and 16.

It will be seen that the floor-block 0', Figs. 15 and 16, is providedwith a tension member Z at its base, extending parallel with theceiling, turning up in the neighborhood of the I-beams and resting onthe upper flanges, therefore contributing to the shearing strength ofthe block 1". I also prefer to form the blocks 4" at the factory withthe veneered lower surface, the veneer consisting'of my fire and waterresisting tiles w. When this is done, the blocks 1" consist of theload-supporting portion and the fire and water resisting veneer 05,together with the irons Z, ready to be put in place in the floorconstruction. In placing them the flange-blocks s are first applied tothe lower flanges of the beams, knocking off as many of the detachablesections s as may be needed to allow for the lack of parallelism betweenthe I-beams at different portions of the floor. The blocks 4' are thenlaid and the wedges 15 inserted laterally in the interval provided forthem and pushed down to block the parts firmly together. Cement may besupplied to the various surfaces by masons or may be poured in,preferably filling in around the I-beams. A filling-block 1) may beused, as shown in Fig.

15. Where the block 1" is arched, as in Fig; 15, blocks to may beemployed to support the floor and these preferably provided with notchesto receive the floor-sleepers or floor construction, (shown at 0 in Fig.15.) The floor-blocks r in order to bear more directly upon the lowerflanges of the I-beam and in order to be inserted readily in placeshould belonger than the distance between the lower flanges ofneighboring I-beams and shorter than the distance between the webs ofneighboring I-beams. When such construction is used with thefilling-blocks o and w, a very light, strong, economical, andeasily-laid con'- struction is obtained.

Having now fully described my invention in its preferred embodiments, Iclaim and desire to secure by these Letters Patent the following:

1. In combination in fireproof construction and with the supportsthereof, the complete and self-sustainingload-supporting body consistinglargely of set-up materials and carried by the said supports, ceilingbeneath the said load-supportin g body, and a layer of noncorrosive fireand water resisting material of relatively greater fire and waterresistance than and secured to and supported by the said load-supportingbody, and to which the said ceiling is applied, the said layer of fireand Water resisting material being entirely distinct from, butdetachably secured to the said load supporting body at surfaces orpoints for fracture, whereby it may be readily detached and replacedwithout injury to or disturbance of the said load-supporting body,substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with the supports, a loadsupporting body of set-upmaterials carried by said supports, a layer of tile or burnt materialsecured and supported by and beneath the said load-supporting body,distinct therefrom but detachably secured thereto at a surface forfracture, and the ceiling beneath the said layer, substantially as setforth.

IIO

3. In combination with a load-supporting body of relatively low fire andwater resistance, a non-supporting layer of relatively high fire andwater resisting material distinct from the said load-sustaining body andsecured thereto at surfaces or points for fracture, and a ceilingsecured beneath the said non-supporting fire and water resisting layer,substantially as set forth.

4. In combination wit-h a load-supporting body comprising blocks orlargemasses of material, a fire and water resisting layer consisting ofblocks or masses of relatively small horizontal dimensions compared withthe said load-su pport-in g body, the said layer being secured by meansof and beneath the said loadsupporting body and detachable therefromwithout injury to the said load-supporting body, substantially as setforth.

5. In combination as a means for supporting and fitting floor -blocks toI-beams or flanged supports, a flange-block fitting the flange of saidsupport, a floor-block cut away to partially inclose the saidflange-block and rest upon it, and a fitting-piece interposed betweenthe said floor-block and the said flangeblock below the point where thesaid floorblock rests upon the said flange-block, substantially as setforth.

6. As an article of manufacture, a fittingblock for floor constructionprovided with one or more scored or recessed detachable projections,substantially as set forth.

7. A flange-block provided with a scored or grooved detachableprojection, substantially as set forth.

8. A wedge-shaped fitting-block scored or grooved to form detachableportions, substantially as set forth.

9. A floor-block, 1-, comprising an upper load-sustaining body of set-upmaterials and my hand at New York, N. Y., this 17th day of August, 1897.

HOWARD CONSTABLE.

Witnesses:

GEORGE H. SONNEBORN, HAROLD BINNEY.

